Raonic is now #6! Bouchard is #7! "The boys from nowhere" as the Brit commenters laughingly called them aka the Sockpops win mens doubles....and Pospisil's back is not hurting him..... This is the best news for Canadian tennis in one week ever!!!

I saw Francoise from close by during Rogers Cup, playing doubles with Dubois, and even though they lost, the youngster (17 year old) was at times amazing in exchanges mano-a-mano both from the baseline and from the net against the great Spanish double team of Suarez Navarro and Muguruza.

will take place this weekend at the Maurice Richard Arena (Metro Viau). The tickets are available through "Admission" at the Fedcup site (click on Tickets on the above page).

Now, I assumed that part of the training will take place on the indoor courts at Jarry Park (the place for the Rogers Cup in summer) and I was right: they have several courts reserved for the two teams tomorrow, from 9 to 18. Thus, those of you in Montreal, you might go out and see Genie Bouchard, Irina Begu and the other team members at work. Trouble is, there are no stands there anymore on court 1, thus you may have to stand up a lot.

I am not sure about the schedule of training for the other days though.

It's too bad to read about the surgeries on Polansky and Bester: obviously major coaching errors in technique or exaggerations or poor choices of equipment.

---
Canadian tennis team selected for next month's Pan-Am Games in Toronto
Stephanie Myles
By Stephanie Myles 9 June, 2015 11:02 AM Eh Game

As the host nation, Canada will have a full squad of six players for the Pan-Am Games, which will take place from July 10-26 at the Canadian Tennis Centre, site of the Rogers Cup just a few weeks later.

For the women, Montreal's Françoise Abanda, Gloucester, Ont.'s Gabriela Dabrowski and Toronto's Sharon Fichman will play. On the men's side, it will be North Vancouver's Philip Bester and Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur, who both hail from the Toronto area.

Dabrowski and Fichman, an experienced team together in Fed Cup, will team up for doubles. The men's team will be Bester and Schnur, with Dabrowski and Bester the mixed-doubles entry.

No Frank Dancevic or Filip Peliwo on the roster. Dancevic might be needed for Davis Cup detail in Belgium, the week after Wimbledon, so that conflicts directly. Peliwo will be with the Davis Cup team, which plays in Belgium the week after Wimbledon – i.e., right in the middle of the Pan Am Games tennis event.

Polansky hasn't played any tennis since a Challenger last September in California, having undergone wrist surgery he originally thought would keep out only until February. As a result, his ATP Tour ranking is down to No. 409.

Bester, who had hip surgery in 2013 and is still coming back from that, has posted some results lately at lower-level events. Schnur, 19, is in his second year at the University of North Carolina, having started there in January, 2014.

It's a major upgrade from Canada's last participation in the Pan-Am Games, in 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Canada had just a two-player team; Dabrowski, and an unknown player named Christopher Klingemann. They played only the singles, and the mixed doubles. Klingemann, then 26 and born in Seattle, Washington, hadn't played a pro event for nearly a year.

In her first $50.000 Challenger tournament, attended by the best Canadian female players (except for Bouchard), including Wozniak and Abanda, and other marquee players such as Catherine Billis (USA), Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (born in Mississauga, of Romanian descent), a 2016 Junior US Open semifinalist, has been playing well in both singles and doubles.

Sixteen-year-old Bianca Andreescu (Toronto, ON) was up first and came away with a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over Harriett Dart of Great Britain despite playing her sixth match of the tournament. This will be Andreescu’s first appearance in the semifinals of a $50,000 Challenger. She also advanced to the doubles final alongside her compatritot Charlotte Robillard-Millette. The Canadian duo posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over Pia Konig and Ana Zaja. They will face the top-seeded Romanian team of Elena Bogdan and Mihaela Buzarnescu for the title on Saturday.

“I didn’t play my best tennis today and I don’t think my opponent did either. I had to find ways to finish off points and win this match. I am going to get as much rest as I can and hopefully perform better tomorrow,” Andreescu said after the match.

For her part, Robillard-Millette was defeated in her quarter-final match 6-3, 7-6(5) by second-seeded American Jennifer Brady. Aleksandra Wozniak (Blainville, QC) also saw her Saguenay run end in the quarter-finals on Friday night 6-2, 6-4 at the hands of top-seeded American Catherine Bellis.

Saturday’s semifinals, which get underway at noon, will see Andreescu go up against Brady while Bellis will take on her compatriot Sachia Vickery.
---

The championship match at the eleventh edition of the Saguenay National Bank Challenger promises to be a memorable one between two of tennis’ brightest stars. Canadian Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (Mississauga, ON) and American Catherine Bellis will play for the title at the $50,000 Challenger on Sunday.

Sixteen-year-old Andreescu came through a long match of more than two hours, 30 minutes to defeat second-seeded American Jennifer Brady 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(5) despite not breaking her opponent’s serve once. The junior world no. 7 will be looking to win her second pro title after being crowned champion of the Gatineau Challenger this summer.

“During the match I just tried to fight until the end even though I don’t think I played my best tennis and I am very happy to be in the final,” Andreescu said. “I am really looking forward to playing Cici (Bellis) tomorrow, we’re the same age and play a similar style, so it will be fun to see who wins.”

Andreescu will be in tough in the final against Bellis, the tournament’s top seed. The 17-year-old benefited from a walkover in the semifinals after her compatriot Sachia Vickery was forced to withdraw due to illness. At the U.S. Open this summer, Bellis qualified for the main draw and reached the third round before falling to the eventual champion, Angelique Kerber. She also reached the quarter-finals in Quebec City last month.

“Obviously, this is not how I wanted to make the final,” Bellis said. “I love Saguenay, I am really happy to be here. This is my first Challenger final at this level, so it’s an important week for me and I am happy with how I’ve played.”---